PAL - Philippine Airlines
PAL - Philippine Airlines Main Facts Headquarters Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal-2 Primary Hub *Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal-2 *Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal-3 *Manila Domestic Airport Focus Cities *Bacolod-Silay International Airport *Dipolog Airport *Laoag International Airport *Cebu Mactan International Airport Key Persons Lance Gokongwei (Chairman), Jaime Bautista (President) Fleet Size 5 (4 Leased) Alliance ~Wings of Asia~ Philippine Airlines is airline company based in Manila, Philippines. It was born right after Cebu Pacific Airline declared bankruptcy. 'Fleet' PAL currently has 5 aircraft (4 leased, and 1 owned). Philippine Airlines is one of South East Asia's largest fleet of Airbus aircraft (being the other Singapore Airlines which maintains 2 Airbus A320 type aircraft, 1 A340-600, and 1 A380-800). PAL is not ordering new planes as of the moment due to financial difficulty. But rumors said that PAL is ordering more Airbus A320s because of there high fuel efficiency and low maintenance cost. In September 18,2009 PAL CEO Lance Gokongwei has finalized PAL's future fleet. Comprising of an all Airbus fleet. The average fleet age of PAL is 1.2 yrs. old: 'Financial Difficulty' After increased competition with Palawan Air for cargo, PAL went into financial turmoil nearly declaring bankruptcy after failed attempts to compete with other airliners. As a result PAL was forced to cancel 2 leases and re-started with its MD-81 to recover the lost money. But so far PAL President Jaime Bautista said the company is stable. After failed attempts to make money, PAL decided to sell its A319-100 registered RP-C8600. It was sold to Air Florida it was then passed on to SkyLadies based on Philadelphia, USA. The money earned from the sale was paid for its loses, purchase of improvements, and the lease restart of the A300 and 2 An-225. 'Airbus A380' After recovering from major loses PAL finally acquires 2 A380-800s from Airbus Asset Leasing company. The first South East Asian airliner to acquire the said aircraft. A380 registered RP-C21397 is named "Spirit of the Philippines." while RP-C21460 is named "Spirit of Luzon." The 1st maiden voyage of the aircraft was at 8:00pm(Manila Time) on July, 18,2009 bound for Bacolod Airport.Fittingly enough the Captain Domingo Montelibano is a native of Bacolod City. After two months of lease the Airbus A380-800 has been pulled out of service due to fuel efficiency issues. Former Philippine Airlines Aircraft *Avions Transport Regional ATR-72-600 *Airbus A300-600 *Boeing 777F *Boeing 737-800 *McDonnell Douglas MD-11 *Cessna Caravan (Used as a Trainer Aircraft) *Pilatus Britten-Norman Islander (Used as a Trainer Aircraft) *McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 *Boeing 747-400 *Airbus A380-800 (Pulled out because of Fuel efficiency issues) 'Destinations' Domestic *Bacolod-Silay International Airport *Cebu Mactan International Airport *Dipolog Domestic Airport *Laoag International Airport South East Asia *Bangkok Suvarnhabhumi Airport *Singapore Changi International Airport East Asia *Taipei Taoyuan Airport *Kaohsiung International Airport *Nagoya Centrair International Airport *Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport 'Airline Codeshare and Partnerships' The airline maintains codeshares and partnerships: *Philippine Airways(oPacificRingo) *Canton Airlines(~Wings of Asia~) 'PAL Livery' 'Safety Record and Incidents' As of 2009, PAL has 2 incidents with no casualties. June,10,2009: A PAL Airbus A319 with registration RP-C8600 was hit by lightning while landing in Ninoy Aquino International Airport. No one was reported injured in the incident. The plane was repaired and was put back to service the following day. Septermber,10,2009: A PAL Airbus A320 with registration number RP-C3221 collided to an Airport Light post in Mactan International Airport-Cebu after push back, damaging the whole rear pressure bulkhead. The aircraft was flown to Manila maintaining a non-pressurized flight by PAL Test pilots for repairs.